The 20th annual ESPY awards take place on Wednesday, July 11 from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

2011 was a historic year for UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who went undefeated going 4-0 while capturing the 205lb title in one of the most impressive 12-month spans in the sport’s history.

Jones kicked off the year with a submission victory over Ryan Bader before blasting through former champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua to capture the light heavyweight strap.

Jones went on to submit both Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Lyoto Machida to close out his 2011 with an incredible run through 3 former UFC champions.

“It’s an honor to not only be nominated for the ESPY for Best Fighter, but to also be included in a category with some of the greatest fighters in MMA and boxing history.” Jones said.

Anderson Silva’s 2011 was also quite good for the man recognized as the best mixed martial artist of all time.

Silva TKO’d both Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami to mark his 8th and 9th title defenses respectively in what has almost become commonplace for the Brazilian champion since debuting with the UFC in 2006.

The two MMA fighters will join the two boxers in the category that Floyd Mayweather has won three times previously in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

Anderson Silva deserves this. Yes Jones had a great year but Anderson Silva is the one who continues to expand all-time records with each win.

phrankthetank

No. Jon jones tore through a division in 2011 and became the youngest UFC champ. If there was ever a fighter to win fighter of the year. It’s Jon jones.

Joe (Semper Fi) USMC

I agree, Jones isn’t even near his prime yet. He has this in the bag, and deserves it.

JesseShredderMalloy

2011 was the year of Jon Jones.

omcclave

I personally dont like the guy but jon jones is without a doubt the fighter of the year. The only problem is ESPN hates on mma and will give this BS award to floyd Mayweather again for ducking the manny fight for way to many years now.